Ayo goes for 30 as Illini hold off Hoosiers
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Illini-Minnesota Post Game Heat Checks
Game Summary - The Illini overcame a sluggish start to overwhelm the outmatched and undermanned Minnesota Golden Gophers 92-65. The fact the Gophers led the game 18-10 at the 13:21 mark of the first half is remarkable. For the first time this season, the Illini fed the ball to Kofi in the paint and the Gophers had no way to counter his efforts. At the same time, the Illini held the hapless Gophers to 27.5% shooting and destroyed them on the boards by a 53-35 margin. Not much went right for the Gophers. Even Coach Pitino didn’t appear to have much to offer in the way of adjustments. After a slow start, this was a methodical beatdown.
Dominance from Kofi, defense lead #13 Illini to rout of Gophers
Sophomore center Kofi Cockburn scored a career-high 33 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and the Illini defense locked down Minnesota as 13th ranked Illinois opened Big Ten play with a dominant 92-65 win Tuesday night.
Illini-Minnesota Preview
Illinois’ Big Ten conference grind starts at home tonight versus undefeated Minnesota. The team looks to get back on track after a disappointing loss at Missouri. The Illini really took their game to the next level after last season’s loss to the Tigers. Hopefully, the close loss produces the same result this year and Illinois roars out of the gates rolling in the Big Ten season. While Minnesota hasn’t been picked by many experts to be a challenger for the Big Ten title, they have shown that they aren’t going to be a complete pushover like years past. Look for the Illini to come out early and make sure it’s crystal clear who is the better team.
Illini-Missouri Post Game Heat Checks
Game Summary - The Illini played from behind most of the game. The last Illini lead was at 28-27 on a Kofi Cockburn layup. Much of their first half woes were caused by a transition defense that was particularly porous along with the erratic Illini free throw shooting. It took until 3:21 left in the second half for Ayo to carry the team back to a 76-76 tie. The chance to win the game in regulation decreased exponentially when a disputed flagrant foul call (via video review) was called against Kofi Cockburn with 40 seconds left in the game. The Illini found themselves down by three points, inbounding the ball with a full court in front of them with 11 seconds left. Ayo attempted an off-balanced three point shot that missed, effectively ending the Illini’s chance to win or tie the game in regulation. The flagrant foul was clearly caused by the motion of Mitchell Smith using his arm to push Kofi’s hand upward, resulting in a “slap” to his face.
Illini-Missouri Preview
It’s the Illini’s biggest non-conference game of the year. Tonight’s Border Battle vs. undefeated Missouri will take place in Columbia instead of St. Louis, due to COVID-19, thanks to a coin toss last month to determine the host venue. Coming off back-to-back contests against ranked teams in Baylor and Duke, the Illini can’t overlook a Tiger team that always saves their best for the Orange and Blue. Last year's embarrassing performance in this matchup fueled a furious 13-6 Illini run to end the season in the B1G - the toughest, deepest conference in the country. With that memories still fresh and a Missouri roster featuring 3 players who either played for or had committed to the Illini, I expect the team to be dialed in. 1 - Will the team keep the balanced attack rolling? In the last game versus Duke, six players on the Illini roster scored in double digit points and Adam Miller was one point away before being pulled out of the game to deal with a potential arm injury.
Illini-Duke Post Game Heat Checks
Game Summary - The Illini opened up a 12 point lead in the first five minutes of the game, then closed the half with a 43-29 point lead. That advantage quickly became 19 less than 90 seconds into the second half. At that point, the Illini withstood some bewildering calls as they coasted to a 15 point victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
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